Gerald Ford in hospital for unspecified testing
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, August 15, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS – Former President Ford was admitted Tuesday to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for “testing and evaluation,” his office said in a statement.
The statement gave no details about why the 93-year-old former chief executive went to the clinic in Rochester, about 75 miles southeast of Minneapolis.
“No further releases or updates are anticipated prior to early next week,” said the statement issued from Ford’s office in Beaver Creek, Colo. Ford also has a home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
A California friend, Lee Simmons, said he heard in the last two days that the 93-year-old planned to undergo a series of tests for various “medical problems.” He did not have details but said he believed the tests had been planned in advance.
Ohio: Terror charges dropped
Prosecutors dropped terrorism charges Tuesday against two Michigan men arrested earlier this month after buying large numbers of cell phones, saying they couldn’t prove a terrorism link. Ali Houssaiky and Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, both of Dearborn, Mich., left jail after each posted a $1,000 bond on the remaining misdemeanor counts of falsification, which stem from allegations that the two men initially gave deputies different names than appeared on their IDs. The U.S. government sent bulletins early this year warning police departments nationwide to be alert for bulk purchase of prepaid TracFones, which could be resold to finance terrorism.
D.C.: 138 drug trafficking arrests
Federal agents arrested more than 130 alleged drug traffickers from coast-to-coast Tuesday, saying they smuggled heroin from Mexico and even offered phone-up home deliveries. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, in raids and searches from Charleston, S.C., to Los Angeles made 138 arrests in 15 U.S. cities, seized more than 47 pounds of Mexican black tar heroin and confiscated more than $500,000 in illegal profits, officials said.
Massachusetts: Fire kills puppies
A trailer carrying dozens of puppies to Northeast pet stores caught fire Monday just off an interstate, killing all of the estimated 60 dogs inside, Lowell authorities said. The Lowell Fire Department put out the flames that engulfed the trailer, but they couldn’t save the puppies. A preliminary investigation indicated a malfunctioning fan in the rear of the trailer may have started the fire, Lowell police said.
Wyoming: Wildfire nears homes
Gov. Dave Freudenthal declared a state of emergency Tuesday as winds pushed a fast-moving wildfire toward hundreds of evacuated homes south of Casper. The fire, first reported Monday, was almost 11 square miles in size and about five miles south of Casper, but it was moving southeast, away from the city, toward scattered rural subdivisions.
Florida: Mercury leak at school
More than 75 students and faculty at a Sarasota high school were checked for exposure to mercury Tuesday after the toxic liquid metal leaked from a small vial in a student’s backpack. No one showed immediate signs of illness, the fire department said.
Tennessee: Minister wife’s bail
A minister’s wife accused of shooting her husband to death after an argument over money was released from jail Tuesday on $750,000 bail. Mary Winkler, 32, is charged with killing Matthew Winkler on March 22 at their church parsonage in Selmer. She was arrested the next day in Alabama, where she had taken the couple’s three daughters, and has been behind bars on murder charges since then. Her trial is scheduled for October.
